Brecis Communications

Brecis Communications Corporation operated as a fabless semiconductor company, focusing on the development of multiservice processors for network edge equipment. Founded in 1999, the company, formerly known as TeraGen, targeted its solutions at enterprises and small businesses, enabling the deployment of managed security and advanced broadband services.

The firm's core business involved providing embedded solutions for a variety of customer-premises equipment (CPE), including security appliances, broadband routers, integrated access devices, and Voice over IP (VoIP) gateways. Brecis developed a platform of silicon and software that integrated voice processing, security features like VPN acceleration, and packet processing. This system-on-a-chip (SoC) approach was designed to offer significant cost advantages and superior Quality of Service (QoS) by prioritizing voice traffic over data.

Brecis offered a product line of Multi-Service Processors (MSPs), including the MSP2000, MSP4000, and MSP5000 series, which scaled to serve different segments of the CPE market. To accelerate development for its clients, the company provided 'FastStart' development and evaluation kits. These kits included an evaluation board based on a Brecis MSP, Linux operating system support, and a suite of voice processing software, helping manufacturers to quickly design and market their own multi-service broadband products.

The company's journey involved several key financial and strategic milestones. It secured venture capital funding from investors such as Berkeley VC International, Crosslink Capital, and Norwest Venture Partners. However, Brecis faced operational challenges, leading to significant cuts in its engineering team and an attempt to move development efforts to India and China. In 2004, the company began to sell off its assets. The MSP3000 secure voice processing line was acquired by Cavium Networks. Later that year, PMC-Sierra acquired the remaining assets, including the MSP2000, MSP4000, and MSP5000 product lines, a team of firmware engineers, and Brecis's established customer relationships, particularly in Asian markets.

Keywords: fabless semiconductor, multiservice processors, network edge, VoIP gateways, embedded solutions, broadband routers, system-on-a-chip, QoS, packet processing, security appliances, CPE, integrated access devices, VPN acceleration, voice processing, silicon platform, Cavium Networks, PMC-Sierra